The Washington Capitals picked up the full two points in Saturday’s soiree with the Buffalo Sabres. It wasn’t the prettiest game they’ve ever played but you’ll take it considering the circumstances.
Now go get healthy, dudes.
- The Caps as the title indicates just survived through the first two periods in Buffalo. The discrepancy of ability in the two teams was clear to me even with how injury-laden the Caps currently are. This was just a tired team still trying to shake some rust off. They really got it together in the third period, out-attempting the Sabres by 17 at five-on-five and coming close to even winning in regulation. Take the two points and run on home.
- Vitek Vanecek was very good. He made 29 stops overall to continue his pure dominance over the Sabres franchise. In his career against Buffalo, Vitek is now 7-1-1 with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .925-save percentage.
- Alex Ovechkin played over 25 and a half minutes in this game. I don’t know how smart that is in terms of long-term vitality but it is absolutely impressive nonetheless especially when you consider this was the second game of a back-to-back with travel. Ovi grabbed another primary assist, had 16 individual shot attempts, and eight individual scoring chances. The captain is fully putting this team on his back and just trucking through the schedule.
T.J. Oshie wins the shootout with his 46th career shootout goal, the fourth-most in NHL history. That also marks his 21st game-deciding goal, tied for the second-most in NHL history.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 12, 2021
- I thought Carl Hagelin was also noticeable in a good way. His line with Daniel Sprong and Michael Sgarbossa was statistically the Caps’ best at five-on-five. Hagelin himself was second only to Ovi in shots (5), shot attempts (7), and scoring chances (5). He led the team in individual high danger chances with five.
- 0-for-3 on the power play, including a double minor chance. Remember when the Caps’ power play used to bring excitement into any building? Not anymore.
- The Caps’ next game isn’t until Wednesday so they have three or four days to try and heal and get some good practice time in. That mini-break in the action feels very well-timed.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
